Optimism and Adolescent Perception of Skin Cancer Risk

Objectives: The present study examined comparative optimism for skin cancer (the belief that one is at lower risk for skin cancer than one's peers) among adolescents in two age groups: 11- and 12-year-olds versus 13- and 14-year-olds. Specifically, we tested whether optimism was enhanced when adolescents at lower relative risk (i.e., nontanners) were exposed to higher-risk comparison targets (photos of tanned models) and whether this effect was moderated by age. Methods: Students (N = 211) viewed pictures of either tanned or fair-skinned models, and then responded to a questionnaire that included an assessment of their comparative optimism for skin cancer in later life. Results: Students, as a whole, were comparatively optimistic about their likelihood of developing skin cancer, despite the fact that more than half (55.6%) of them reported intentionally tanning. Analysis of variance revealed a significant 3-way interaction among behavior (tanner vs. nontanner), target (pale vs. tanned model), and age (early vs. mid-adolescents). The interaction was driven by a particularly strong amount of comparative optimism in one group: mid-adolescent, nontanning students in the tan-target condition. Conclusions: Most adolescents believe they are less likely than their peers to experience a negative health outcome. It also appears that the relation between social comparison and comparative optimism develops with age, as only the midadolescent students showed evidence of making a self-to-target comparison.